Patio or pool enclosure with removable panels

ABSTRACT

A patio or pool enclosure comprising a frame to support a side wall and an end wall disposed at opposite end portions of the side wall wherein the frame comprises a side frame assembly including a corner post or column member disposed at opposite ends of the side wall with a lower side frame member and an upper side frame member extending between the lower portions of the corner post or column frame members and extending between the upper portions of the of the corner post or column frame members respectively to support and secure the side wall therebetween and an end frame assembly disposed at opposite end portions of the side frame assembly, each end frame assembly including an end post or column member with a lower end frame member and an upper end frame member extending between the lower portion of the corresponding corner post or column frame member and the lower portion of the correspondingly end post or column member and extending between the upper portion of the correspondingly corner post or column frame member and the upper portion of the correspondingly end post or column member, each end wall comprising at least one removable screen panel mounted to the corresponding end frame assembly to permit selectively removal therefrom to allow wind to move through the ends of the patio or pool enclosure unobstructed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

A patio or pool enclosure including substantially vertical panels selectively removable in advance of high winds to prevent damage to the patio or pool enclosure.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Numerous screen enclosures have been designed for use with pools and patios. Unfortunately, most such screen enclosures can not withstand high winds. Thus, attempts have been undertaken to provide screen enclosures not subject to damage or destruction by high velocity winds. A number of these attempts are cited below.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,905,281 relates to screen panel with knock-down disassembly.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,869,827 discloses screen panels with removable upper and lower sections.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,987,597 shows enclosure with removable wall panels.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,768,317 relates to an awning cover removable prior to storm.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,555,681 shows a retractable screen panel.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,003,279 shows an enclosure with removable screens.

Additional examples of the prior art found in U.S. Pat. No. 2,019,831; U.S. Pat. No. 2,986,150; U.S. Pat. No. 4,561,227; U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,484; U.S. Pat. No. 6,192,643; U.S. Pat. No. 6,338,226 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,668,495.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a patio or pool enclosure comprising a frame to support a side wall and an end wall disposed at opposite end portions of the side wall. The frame comprises a side frame assembly including a substantially vertical corner post or column member disposed at or adjacent opposite ends of the side wall with a substantially horizontal lower side frame member and a substantially horizontal upper side frame member extending between the lower portions of the substantially vertical corner post or column frame members and extending between the upper portions of the of the substantially vertical corner post or column frame members respectively to support and secure the side wall therebetween. Each end frame assembly comprises a substantially vertical end post or column member with substantially horizontal lower end frame member and a substantially horizontal upper end frame member extending between the lower portion of the corresponding substantially vertical corner post or column frame member and the lower correspondingly substantially vertical end post or column member and extending between the upper portion of the correspondingly substantially vertical corner post or column frame members and the upper portion of the correspondingly substantially vertical end post or column member.

Each end wall comprises at least one removable screen panel mounted to the corresponding end frame assembly to permit selectively removal therefrom to allow wind to move through the ends of the patio or pool enclosure unobstructed.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a fuller understanding of the nature and object of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the patio or pool enclosure of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the patio or pool enclosure of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the screen end panels of an end wall and an end frame assembly of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a detailed plan view of screen end panels of an end wall and an end frame assembly of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional side view of an end wall and an end frame assembly of the present invention taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional side view of an end wall and an end frame assembly of the present invention with a screen end panel partially removed from an end frame assembly taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 7 is an exploded partial perspective view of an end wall and an end frame assembly of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional side view of the side wall and side frame assembly of an alternate embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a detailed plan view of the screen side panels of a side wall and a side frame assembly of an alternate embodiment of the present invention.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the present invention relates to a patio or pool enclosure generally indicated as 10 comprising a frame including a side frame assembly and an end frame assembly disposed at opposite end portions of the side frame assembly configured to support a side wall generally indicated as 12 and an end wall generally indicated as 14 disposed at opposite end portions of the side wall 12 and a roof 16. As more fully described hereinafter, each end wall 14 comprises a plurality of screen panels each indicated as 17 removably mounted in each end frame assembly. As depicted, the inner portion 18 of frame is attached to a wall 20 of a home or other structure (not shown).

As shown in FIG. 2, the side frame assembly comprises a substantially vertical corner post or column member generally vertical 20 disposed at or adjacent opposite ends of the side wall 12 with a substantially horizontal lower side frame member 22 and a substantially horizontal upper side frame member 24 extending between the lower portions 26 of the substantially vertical corner post or column frame members 20 and the upper portions 28 of the substantially vertical corner post or column frame members 20 respectively to support and secure the side wall 12 therebetween.

As shown in FIGS. 2 through 7, each end frame assembly comprises a substantially vertical end post or column member generally indicated as 30 with a substantially horizontal lower end frame member generally indicated as 32 and a substantially horizontal upper end frame member generally indicated as 34 extending between the lower portion 26 of the corresponding substantially vertical corner post or column frame member 20 and the lower portion 36 of the corresponding substantially vertical end post 30 and extending between the upper portion 28 of the corresponding substantially vertical corner post or column frame member 20 and the upper portion 38 of the corresponding substantially vertical end post 30 to removable support the screen end panels generally indicated as 17 of the corresponding end wall 14 therein.

Each substantially vertical end post or column member 30, each substantially horizontal lower end frame member 32, each substantially horizontal upper end frame member 34 and each substantially vertical corner post or column member 20 is similarly configured. Specifically, as best shown in FIGS. 5 through 7, each member 30, 32, 34 and 20 comprise a substantially U-shaped configuration including a substantially flat base 40 having a substantially flat outer channel member 42 extending substantially perpendicular from each side thereof and a plurality of substantially flat interior intermediate channel members each indicated as 44 extending substantially perpendicular from the substantially flat base 40 and substantially parallel to each other and the substantially flat outer channel members 42 to cooperatively form a channel 46 between adjacent channel members 42/44 to selectively receive a corresponding removable screen panel 17 therein.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the side wall 12 comprises a screen fabric or material 48 stretched between the substantially vertical corner post or column members 20, the substantially horizontal lower side frame member 22 and the substantially horizontal upper side frame member 24. A plurality of substantially vertical intermediate side frame members each indicated as 50 extending between the substantially vertical corner post or column members 20 and substantially parallel thereto and a substantially horizontal intermediate side frame member 52 extending between the substantially horizontal lower side frame member 22 and the substantially upper side frame member 24 and substantially parallel thereto.

As best shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 7, each removable screen panel 17 comprises a screen fabric or material 54 stretched between an upper screen panel frame member 56 and a lower screen panel frame member 58 held in substantially parallel relationship relative to each other by a pair of substantially parallel side screen panel frame members each indicated as 60. An intermediate screen panel frame member 62 extends between the substantially parallel side screen panel frame members 60.

As best shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the upper screen panel frame member 56 and the lower screen panel frame member 58 are slidably disposed within the corresponding channels 46 of the substantially horizontal upper end frame member 34 and the substantially horizontal lower end frame member 32 respectively. Rollers or wheels 64 may be rotatably attached to the lower screen panel frame member 58 of each removable screen panel 17 to facilitate sliding movement thereof within the corresponding channel 46 such that two or more of the removable screen panels 17 overlap. Of course, the substantially horizontal lower end frame member 32 and the substantially horizontal upper end frame member 34 may include a single channel 46 to receive the removable screen panels 17 end to end.

As shown in FIG. 6, the removable screen panels 17 are removed from the corresponding end frame assembly by lifting and rotating the lower screen panel frame member 58 from the corresponding channel 46 of the substantially horizontal lower end frame member 32 and removing the upper screen panel frame member 56 from the corresponding channel 46 of the substantially horizontal upper end frame member 34.

As shown in FIG. 4, a first clasp element 66 and a second clasp element 68 may be mounted to the side screen panel frame members 60 to cooperatively secure adjacent removal screen panels 17 together. A handle 70 can be mounted to one of the side screen panel frame members 60 to facilitate handling of the removable screen panels 17.

The side frame assembly and side wall 12 may be similarly configured to the end frame assembly and end walls 14 respectively to permit the side wall 12 to be removable as are the end walls 14.

Specifically, as best shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, each member 20 and 22 comprises a substantially U-shaped configuration including a substantially flat base 40 having a substantially flat outer channel member 42 extending substantially perpendicular from each side thereof and a plurality of substantially flat interior intermediate channel members each indicated as 44 extending substantially perpendicular from the substantially flat base 40 and substantially parallel to each other and the substantially flat outer channel members 42 to cooperatively form a channel 46 between adjacent channel members 42/44 to selectively receive a corresponding removable screen panel 117 therein.

As best shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, each removable screen panel 117 comprises a screen fabric or material 154 stretched between an upper screen panel frame member 156 and a lower screen panel frame member 158 held in substantially parallel relationship relative to each other by a pair of substantially parallel side screen panel frame members each indicated as 160. An intermediate screen panel frame member 162 extends between the substantially parallel side screen panel frame members 160.

As best shown in FIG. 9, the upper screen panel frame member 156 and the lower screen panel frame member 158 are slidably disposed within the corresponding channels 146 of the substantially horizontal upper end frame member 1314 and the substantially horizontal lower end frame member 132 respectively. Rollers or wheels 164 may be rotatably attached to the lower screen panel frame member 158 of each removable screen panel 117 to facilitate sliding movement thereof within the corresponding channel 146 such that two or more of the removable screen panels 117 overlap. Of course, the substantially horizontal lower end frame member 132 and the substantially horizontal upper frame member 134 may include a single channel 146 to receive the removable screen panels 117 end to end.

It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, among those made apparent from the preceding description are efficiently attained and since certain changes may be made in the above construction without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Now that the invention has been described, 

1. A patio or pool enclosure comprising a frame to support a side wall and an end wall disposed at opposite end portions of the side wall, said frame comprises a side frame assembly including a corner member disposed at opposite ends of said side wall with a lower side frame member and an upper side frame member extending between the lower portions of said corner frame members and extending between the upper portions of said corner frame members respectively to support and secure said side wall therebetween and an end frame assembly disposed at opposite end portions of said side frame assembly, each said end frame assembly includes an end member with a lower end frame member and an upper end frame member extending between the lower portion of the corresponding corner frame member and the lower portion of the correspondingly end member and extending between the upper portion of the correspondingly corner frame member and the upper portion of the correspondingly end member, each said end wall comprises at least one removable screen panel mounted to the corresponding end frame assembly to permit selectively removal therefrom to allow wind to move from end to end through the ends of said patio or pool enclosure unobstructed.
 2. A patio or pool enclosure comprising a frame to support a side wall and an end wall disposed at opposite end portions of the side wall, said frame comprises a side frame assembly including a corner member disposed at opposite ends of said side wall with at least one frame member extending between said corner members to support and secure said side wall therebetween and an end frame assembly disposed at opposite end portions of said side frame assembly, each said end frame assembly including an end member with at least one frame member extending between the corresponding corner frame member and the correspondingly end post member, each said end wall comprising at least one removable screen panel mounted to the corresponding end frame assembly to permit selectively removal therefrom to allow wind to move from end to end through the ends of said patio or pool enclosure unobstructed.
 3. The patio or pool enclosure of claim 2 wherein said frame comprises a side frame assembly including a corner member disposed at opposite ends of said side wall with a lower side frame member and an upper side frame member extending between the lower portions of said corner frame members and extending between the upper portions of said corner frame members respectively to support and secure the said wall therebetween and wherein each said end frame assembly includes an end member with a lower end frame member and an upper end frame member extending between the lower portion of the corresponding corner frame member and the lower portion of the corresponding end member and extending between the upper portion of the corresponding corner frame member and the upper portion of the corresponding end column member.
 4. The patio or pool enclosure of claim 3 wherein said side frame assembly comprises a substantially vertical corner member disposed at or adjacent opposite ends of said side wall with a substantially horizontal lower side frame member and a substantially horizontal upper side frame member extending between the lower portions of said substantially vertical corner frame members and the upper portions of said substantially vertical corner frame members respectively to support and secure said side wall therebetween.
 5. The patio or pool enclosure of claim 4 wherein each said end frame assembly comprises a substantially vertical end member with a substantially horizontal lower end frame member and a substantially horizontal upper end frame member extending between the lower portion of the corresponding substantially vertical corner frame member and the lower portion of the corresponding substantially vertical end post and extending between the upper portion of the corresponding substantially vertical corner frame member and the upper portion of the corresponding substantially vertical end post to removably support said screen end panel.
 6. The patio or pool enclosure of claim 5 wherein each said substantially vertical end member, each said substantially horizontal lower end frame member, each said substantially horizontal upper end frame member and each said substantially vertical corner member comprises a substantially U-shaped configuration including a substantially flat base having a substantially flat outer channel member extending substantially perpendicular from each side thereof to cooperatively form a channel therebetween to selectively receive at least one removable screen panel therein.
 7. The patio or pool enclosure of claim 6 further including a plurality of substantially flat interior intermediate channel members extending substantially perpendicular from said substantially flat base and substantially parallel to each other and said substantially flat outer channel members to cooperatively form a channel between adjacent channel members to selectively receive a corresponding removable screen panel therein.
 8. The patio or pool enclosure of claim 7 wherein each removable screen comprises a screen fabric stretched between an upper screen panel frame member and a lower screen panel frame member held in substantially parallel relationship relative to each other by a pair of substantially parallel side screen panel frame members.
 9. The patio or pool enclosure of claim 8 wherein said upper screen panel frame member and said lower screen panel frame member of each removable screen are slidably disposed within corresponding channels of said substantially horizontal upper end frame member and said substantially horizontal lower end frame member respectively.
 10. The patio or pool enclosure of claim 9 wherein rollers are rotatably attached to said lower screen panel frame member of each said removable screen panel to facilitate sliding movement thereof within the corresponding channel such that two or more of the removable screen panels overlap.
 11. The patio or pool enclosure of claim 8 wherein each said end frame assembly further includes an intermediate screen panel frame member extending between corresponding substantially parallel side screen panel frame members.
 12. The patio or pool enclosure of claim 11 wherein said side wall comprises a screen fabric stretched between said substantially vertical corner members, said substantially horizontal lower side frame member and said substantially horizontal upper side frame member and at least one substantially vertical intermediate side frame members extending between said substantially vertical corner members and substantially parallel thereto and at least one substantially horizontal intermediate side frame member extending between said substantially horizontal lower side frame member and said substantially upper side frame member and substantially parallel thereto.
 13. The patio or pool enclosure of claim 8 wherein said side wall comprises a screen fabric stretched between said substantially vertical members, said substantially horizontal lower side frame member and said substantially horizontal upper side frame member.
 14. The patio or pool enclosure of claim 5 wherein substantially vertical corner member comprises a second substantially U-shaped configuration including a substantially flat base having a substantially flat outer channel member extending substantially perpendicular from each side thereof to cooperatively form a channel therebetween to selectively receive at least one removable screen panel therein.
 15. The patio or pool enclosure of claim 14 further including a plurality of substantially flat interior intermediate channel members extending substantially perpendicular from said substantially flat base and substantially parallel to each other and said substantially flat outer channel members to cooperatively form a channel between adjacent channel members to selectively receive a corresponding removable screen panel therein.
 16. The patio or pool enclosure of claim 15 wherein each removable screen comprises a screen fabric stretched between an upper screen panel frame member and a lower screen panel frame member held in substantially parallel relationship relative to each other by a pair of substantially parallel side screen panel frame members.
 17. The patio or pool enclosure of claim 16 wherein said upper screen panel frame member and said lower screen panel frame member of each removable screen are slidably disposed within corresponding channels of said substantially horizontal upper end frame member and said substantially horizontal lower end frame member respectively.
 18. The patio or pool enclosure of claim 17 wherein rollers are rotatably attached to said lower screen panel frame member of each said removable screen panel to facilitate sliding movement thereof within the corresponding channel such that two or more of the removable screen panels overlap. 